Wednesday, February 1, 2017

Sydney Leathers Boyfriend in Deep Doo Doo

. . . You can read the whole thing, if you wish to remind yourself of what was made apparent by Weiner’s disgrace, both in terms of the degradation of culture, and the role of the liberal media and the Democrat Party in enabling that degradation. In retrospect, it should have been obvious that a middle-aged married politician seeking out a 22-year-old “sugar baby” for online sex chats, after he has already been caught once in such affairs, was in the throes of a helpless and perverse obsession. A man so reckless as to be willing to destroy not only his reputation, but also his political career and his marriage, for the sake of kinky conversations with Sydney Leathers, probably was too far gone to recover. When Weiner was caught yet a third time in August 2016, however, it became evident that he was also willing to risk serious legal consequences:

Disgraced pervert and former congressman Anthony Weiner could soon face child-pornography charges as a result of a federal investigation into his electronic exchanges with a 15-year-old girl.
The FBI began investigating Weiner after the Daily Mail reported that the notorious “dick pic” enthusiast had exchanged in sexually explicit messaging with the underage girl. Writing under the pseudonym “T Dog,” Weiner reportedly asked the 15-year-old to dress up like a “school girl” and engage in “rape fantasies.” He allegedly told the girl he “would bust that tight p—y hard and so often that you would leak and limp for a week.”
It was federal investigators probing Weiner who uncovered emails potentially related to the Hillary Clinton investigation on several of Weiner’s electronic devices, prompting FBI director James Comey to inform members of Congress. Many Democrats have suggested Comey’s actions in response to the Weiner probe findings may have cost Hillary Clinton the election.
Weiner’s estranged wife, Huma Abedin, was a senior adviser to Clinton at the State Department, and maintained a prominent role in her presidential campaign.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Weiner’s attorneys have been in discussion with federal prosecutors in recent weeks, and have urged them not to bring serious charges in the case. The most serious charge Weiner could face is production of child pornography, because he allegedly solicited sexually explicit images from the underage girl. If convicted, Weiner could face a 15-year mandatory minimum jail sentence.
Lesser charges Weiner might face include receipt of child pornography or possession of child pornography. The former carries a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison, while the latter charge has no mandatory minimum.

(Via Memeorandum.) Even if we could leave aside our moral judgment of Weiner’s behavior, we would still be left to contemplate the strictly pragmatic issues involved in his case. It can be fairly argued that Weiner caused Hillary Clinton’s defeat last November, not only because of Comey’s FBI investigation, but also because Weiner’s third sexting scandal called attention to his wife, Clinton’s personal aide Huma Abedin. This in turn reminded many people of the widely held opinion, dating back to the 1990s, that Bill and Hillary have an “arrangement” in their marriage. And, of course, this rekindled speculation about Hillary’s own sexual preferences. Were such opinions and speculation fair to the Clintons? Fairness doesn’t count for much in politics.